Megalodon
Carcharodon Megalodon is a massive prehistoric shark, that evolved in the Oligocene Epoch 25 Million Years Ago, and only went extinct around 1.5 Million Years Ago or less. Their extinction was caused by Ice Age climate changes around 2 million years ago, which made the baleen whales that were the bulk and mainstay of the diet of Megalodon, to move from the warm water tropics to the freezing polar waters (as in turn the whales nutrition moved South also) As Megalodon was restricted to warm seas. It starved since it was deprived of it's prey. The full name of Megalodon is Carcharodon megalodon (although some think it is not closely related to the great white shark and place it in a new genus, Carcharocles). Size Megalodon is stated to be 16 meters long but some Megalodon's grow up to 20 metres and weigh from 50 to 80 to 103 tonnes (although this claim has no scientific evidence). Walking with Dinosaurs Megalodon doesn't feature in the main series. Specials Sea Monsters Megalodon features in Sea Monsters: A Walking with Dinosaurs Trilogy, and belongs to the third most dangerous sea of all time. Sea Monsters Episode 2: Into the Jaws of Death Because they are so dangerous, Nigel Marven's team didn't want him to swim with them, so they decided that he had to swim with the juveniles first. The juveniles alone were the size of Great White Sharks. The juveniles hunt the bizarre Odobenocetops. Then they hunt an adult. Nigel Marvin brings out a camera called 'Shark Cam' and climbs into the Shark Cage. A Megalodon is attracted by Chum and swims around the boat, trying to feed on it. Nigel panics and doesn't fire the camera. Instead he attempts to fire it from a platform of the 'Ancient Marine'. the Megalodon shoots out of the water and knocks Nigel into the water. Sea Monsters Episode 3: To Hell...And Back? Nigel stumbles back onto the platform and fires the camera onto the Megalodon's back. The Megalodon eats the Chum and swims away. Later, it kills a Whale and the cloud of blood knocks the Camera off. Nigel and his crew find the Shark Cam and watch its recording of a Megalodon attack. Triva *The Megalodon seems to be Nigel Marvins fear. *Megalodon can grow up from 17 to 20 metres long, making it the second largest predator in the entire franchise, behind Liopleurodon. In the series it is refered to be 15-16 metres long (more realistic approach). *Megalodon has the biggest bite force of all time. It's bite force was 18 metric tons, beating Dunkleosteus with a bite force of 4 metric tons (alleged method of bite force measurement is not 100 % reliable). *Megalodon is the second top predator to appear in Sea Monsters twice. The first was Dunkleosteus. *Megalodon seems to be similar to Dunkleosteus. *Megalodon also feeds on ancient Baleen Whales. *Megalodon is probably the second or third most dangerous predator of all time. Category:Creatures Category:Carnivores Category:Fish Category:Chondrichthyes Category:Miocene Epoch Category:Pliocene Epoch Category:Pleistocene Epoch Category:Tertiary/Palaeogene Period Category:Quaternary/Neogene Period Category:Cenozoic Era Category:Sharks Category:Phanerozoic Eon Category:Vertebrates Category:Sea Monsters Apex Predators